Update 3/26/12: Bradley Manning for congress, punishing Bradley to get to WikiLeaks, and a new Manning book

Don Santina suggests Bradley Manning run for Congress. Citing Bobby Sands’ “electoral coup” in 1981, when he was elected to British parliament after six weeks of hunger striking, and Eugene Debs’ campaign from prison in 1920, Santina suggests Manning run for Congress in Maryland. Manning would turn 25, the legally required age, a month after the election this November:

“If Manning runs in Maryland, voters would finally be given a genuine opportunity to express their opinion on the current run-amuck foreign policy of the United States.”

Santina says that if Manning couldn’t get on the ballot as an independent, he might have some success as a write-in candidate. (Read more…)

“US persecutes Manning in bid to smash WikiLeaks.” Ash Pemberton recaps Manning’s abusive treatment, efforts to make an example of him, and the legal injustices Manning has faced so far. He indicates Manning was abused in an attempt to implicate Julian Assange:

“Manning’s treatment was widely believed to be aimed at inducing him to incriminate WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange.”

Many have also suggested Manning is being persecuted extremely harshly in order to send a message to potential whistle-blowers in the future. (Read more…)

Greg Mitchell and Kevin Gosztola have a new book about Bradley Manning. The book builds on Mitchell’s book last year about Manning, with a new emphasis on the unjust legal proceedings thus far. The Nation has excerpted a section of the book – the appendix written by soldier Ethan McCord:

“If PFC Bradley Manning did what he is accused of, he is a hero of mine; not because he’s perfect or because he never struggled with personal or family relationships—most of us do—but because in the midst of it all he had the courage to act on his conscience.”

"My name Is Rael Nidess, I’m a retired physician in Marshall, TX and I support Bradley Manning because I believe that by not knowing the truth of the past, we are condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past… repeatedly."